Buddies

I'm 68, will retire next year. Have piddled with woodworking all my life, but only in the last year or so have I realized how little I knew about it.
I'm trying to fix that, but have a long way to go.

After losing many thousands of dollars in the stock market, I adopted a new investment plan: spend my money on stuff I've always wanted, stuff that will last and I'll never have to buy again, and do it before the dollar is so devalued their purchase price will look like a steal. So, as a result, I've been buying tools left and right to add to an extensive collection from my father and grandfather.

So far I've acquired a DeWalt planer, a Grizzly 14'' band saw for resawing (I'll use my old Craftsman for most of my other work); a Ridgid jointer, a couple of routers and router tables, a miter saw, a lathe, new japanese chisels and carvers, a Foredom flex shaft carver, a Grizzly workbench and about half of the little gadget stuff in the Grizzly catalog.

In retirement I hope to be able to use these things. Don't have much time just yet but I'm trying to learn how to use all these tools the way they're supposed to be.

I intend to do my own lumber. One of my ultimate projects is to build a large roll top desk using red oak off my own heavily-wooded ten acres. I am in the process of riving out sections of a 24" red oak that lightning struck three years ago. I cut it but it fell into the forks of another nearby tree, so I'm taking the wood out in sections. The sap wood is rotty and bug-infested, but the heart is still beautiful.

Welcome to Lumber Jocks! This is a great place to get – or give – advice about woodworking on the forums and the project posts are a wonderful source of new ideas. I love this site, I hope you will enjoy it too.

Welcome to the shop. I look forward to seeing your projects and I hope you enjoy the site. There is alot of good information available from both professionals and amateurs who are willing to share their craft. God Bless!

Welcome to LJ’s. We are the same age, and it looks like we are in a similar situation re hobbyist woodworking (see my blog and home). By the way, I just completed making some inserts for my TS. Be sure to make some extra blanks while you are at it.